Chicago taxpayers could reportedly spend $1.2 million to settle a lawsuit filed by the mother of a high school basketball star who was fatally shot by an off-duty Chicago police officer.
The settlement involving the shooting death of 17-year-old Corey Harris was approved by the City Council’s Finance Committee Tuesday and will be heard by the full council on Wednesday.
Chicago police said that the teen -- who was a junior at Walter Dyett High School and the captain of the school's basketball team -- was killed after the off-duty officer saw him shooting at another person at 69th and King Drive at around 3:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2009.
A police spokesman said police chased the teen to the 6800 block of South Eberhart, where he pointed his gun at the officer and was shot. A gun was recovered at the scene, police said.
Harris' family and friends disputed that account, saying the three-year varsity athlete at Dyett had no police record and had never been involved with gangs.
"You can go to the school the principal, the teachers, the security -- nobody could give you bad report about my kid," said Harris' mother, Natasha Williams.
Williams said she talked to a woman in whose yard her son's body lay after he was shot.
"The lady said my son did not have a gun, that a lot of boys were running and the officer was just shooting in the crowd of boys." The woman also told Williams that police appeared to recover a weapon from the top of a nearby garage.
Williams filed a lawsuit accusing Officer Darren Write of “wildly” firing a “series of shot” at a group of students that included Harris, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
